Commencing Countdown, Engines On

17:10, 22/3/2, 15 XP

System AL733, Planet 4

---

"Pepper? Did we lose you? Comms check. Repeat, comms check."

"Shit, they can't hear me?" Pepper whacked his armored tail across a module on his exosuit's back, about where one of his kidneys might reside. "Hm... That fix it, mom?"

"There we go. Welcome back, Pep." A spotlight snapped to the custom engineering exosuit as it drifted weightlessly between large mountain-sized chunks of ice. "We've got your location. Cool. Ready to check your work, son?"

Pepper groaned for Ilaria as he checked the energy level of his batteries. "I'm a bit low, but I think I can fire an anchor still. Give me a minute." The otter dog took a grappling hook magnetically snapped to his shin and loaded it into a wrist mounted gauss launcher. A short capacitor discharge later and the hook snagged a floating glacier. "There, all set. You might want to check your starboard side and low, though. All this ice is... not really ideal for repairs, mom. Why did we decide to meet here, again?"

The radio cracked with a new signal adding itself to the line with a much more distinct accent following. "Oy, I'm not risking my big baby, Pep. If we're gonna drift to oblivion on a planet, I'd much rather be tied ta' something first."

"Oh, I get that much mum. I mean why here when we're only five dives from AS-2032? We've got two or three outposts there, including a shipping facility."

"We just ran out of chox, Pepper. We've been running on fumes a while now so it's a few weeks of charging." Rhyme latched onto a handle behind her son's neck and pulled herself around to face him. "We've got a time sensitive experiment on Elliot's module so we thought this would be quicker."

"It's for Aunt Ashe? Shit, you just needed to lead with that. Just make sure to bring extra charged oxidium next time." Pepper reeled his grapple and eased his suit to stand on the ice block. "Okay, we're secured now. Give it a test, something low output."

"Alright, son. Let's try the water tank, two LPS."

"Right, love. Two litre rate... engaged. Ready for heating."

"Open him up." Water flowed into the heat engines, the resulting steam providing very minor thrust to all four of the Volk's winged thrust vectoring vents. "So far, so good. How's it look from outside, Pep?"

"Scanning the output now. Let's see..." Pepper read over a graph of his exhaust scan overlaid atop the expected results. "Looks like we're running a bit high. The output is about thirty-three hundred liters per second of steam. That should be thirty-two. Did we miss one of the busted valves?"

"We must have. Pillow, kill the flow. We--"

"Thirty-four. Thirty-five. Mum, your flow rate is out of control. Shut it down so we can take a look."

"I already bloody tried to no effect, Peppy." Robyn groaned and growled over the line as she worked a series of controls. "Overrides won't do it. Must be the regulators on the tanks got stuck somehow."

"Pillow, can we dump the water tanks into something else?"

"Don't think so, Ottah. The only connected tank is full o' ammonia."

Rhyme anchored herself with a cleat to free up Pepper. "Son, you're better protected. Try to shut off the tank manually."

"We should evacuate anyone in the attached modules to the Stack first." Pep disconnected his grappling hook and launched himself toward the Volk. "Might want to jettison anything dangerous as well. That means Elliot's lab."

"If our thrusters are out of control they'd be safer on the detached modules. We're outside the danger of decaying orbits for things of that mass." There was a pause as various radio lines connected to the system. "Attention all modular crew. Prepare for separation due to a safety issue. Repeat, all modular crew should prepare for separation."

"You know that's just me, Ari. Gods damnit, I was getting somewhere too." Elliot preemptively detached his custom science module just as Pepper reached the Volk. "Lucky you I've been listening over the internal comms. We'll be right here when you're fixed."

"Sorry, Elliot. We just don't want anyone getting hurt." Ari redirected the four thruster wings to a prograde vector and the Volk slowly moved away from the planet whose rings they were using. "We shouldn't have to worry about crashing on that gas giant for a bit, at least until we near the periapsis of this orbit again. Pep, see what you can do while we try to engage the heat shields on the engine radiator."

"On it, mom." Pepper engaged his magnetic clamps in his suit's feet and walked beneath a debris cowl for a thruster's main joint. "Yeah, it's definitely not in the output. There's no leaks, so it's got to be before the heating element. Mum's probably right about the regulator."

"Can you fix it?"

"Not until the engine radiators cool. I have to get right next to them and my suit's not thermally protected. I'll have to standby on the hull for now, but I might be able to open a vent before I go." Pepper crawled into a tight access space and placed an electric bolt driver to a locking bolt on an access panel. "Now I know what a TV dinner feels like..."

"You need to stop watching old movies with your uncles. Hurry up so you're clear of danger, Pep." Ari diverted her attention and forgot to shut off her transmission switch. "Come out to the coast... We'll get together, have a few laughs..."

"Yippee ki yay, mother." Pep chuckled as he freed the panel and turned the valve on an emergency pressure release. "Okay, done. I'm outta here until he cools off. Untether us from any anchors while we drift. This might take a while."

"Already done. I guess--" The line fell flat, then Ilaria came back with an air of concern to her voice. "Pepper, what did you do? Pressure is climbing in the third thruster."

"I just released the pressure on the first. I'm nowhere near the third."

"Pepper, get out of there. I think it'll blow and you'll take the impact."

"Aye, he might just lose a wing over this mess." Robyn grunted as she exerted some force on a physical detail of some sort. "Peppy, tie your bum down an' get ready for a ride. Pressure's critical."

"Well shit. On it, mum." Pep's current location was a death trap if he came free of the hull. He checked further down the Stack, the Volk's central column or spine, and found a nook between decks he could use as cover. He attached his grapple to a grab bar by paw and fed out the line, hoping to swing into the spot using the acceleration of the ship. "What's the deal? The output looks about normal now. Where's the failure?"

"Ice. It's got to be ice in the line." The Volk's wings shifted again to correct for the normal output rates at Ari's command. "I've put on the autopilot. If that blockage snaps loose we can't adjust for it manu--"

"Oh, fuck." Pepper suddenly swung hard into the hull of the Volk as the ship burst forward in a bout of acceleration. His exosuit slammed into the second deck of the Stack, then his grapple line snagged the rough metal his impact produced. "Crap! I'm loose!" The pup-otter twirled in an endless pirouette for a few seconds until he could stretch out a paw. He used the leverage and applied a field of dense gravity ahead of his paw, torquing himself to a still drift. "I'm okay. I've... been pushed back by your wash, but I'm okay. How are you guys?"

"We're... perfect, actually. That was the whole problem."

"I told you I checked my work. Ha!" Pep turned about and used the ice of the planetary rings as velocity references. "I'm not moving much. How long would an orbit take for this planet? Should I just wait for pickup?"

"Nah, love. We've got piles of tests to churn through first on my engines." Robyn grunted as she slammed a large valve, cutting the water flow entirely. "You can catch a ride with Ellie, yeah? Got the air, Peppy?"

"Yeah, I've got loads of air in this thing, mum." Pep concentrated a moment, then formed a gravity well that pulled him retrograde in his orbit. "Let's see... Come on, ya' slow piece o' shit computer... Yeah, twenty minutes until intercept. I'll pick up mom and chill at the lab module until you get back around."

"That sounds like a plan, Pep." Ari faded a bit as the radio fell into a patchy range. "Crap. Okay, hit your emergency beacon if something goes wrong. We'll launch a shuttle to pick you up, son."

"Will do. Later, mom. Good luck, mum." The radio crackled out of touch, leaving Pepper in silence save for the hiss of his air pressure regulator every time he breathed. "Ground Control to Major Tom..." A sparkle caught his eye, but Pep shrugged it off as ice since his sensors read nothing. "Take your protein pills and put your helmet on..." Again the flicker flashed, this time larger and brighter. Something was headed Pepper's direction and whatever it was, it refused to show up on all known instrumentation to current civilization. "The hell? Did we clip a stealth ship or what?"

The UFO rolled onward, but somehow its path curved toward Pepper. "The gravity well? Just how dense is that thing?" Pep shifted his gravity well to his other side and tried to slow so he could intercept the object. In mere seconds the object greatly changed course, slamming into Pep's exosuit and causing him to correct yet another tumble. "Ouf! Damn..." He checked the item he caught and gawked at a furless wolf woman completely bare to to vacuum. "...Can you hear me, Major Tom?"

21 Minutes Later

17:39, 22/3/2, 15 XP

Daedalus Research Module

System AL-733, Planet 4

---

"Did you pick up another souvenir, Pepper?" Rhyme took off the helmet to her industrial grade space suit and clipped it to hang on her back. "What did you break off your mother's ship this time? Let's see it."

"That's not what happened, mom. I found... well, I hope it's an android of some kind and not a popsicle." Pepper set the odd wolf down on the deck of the airlock and she made a surprisingly heavy thud. "Definitely robotic. This lady weighs a ton."

"Manners, young man. Let me see her." Rhy took a foil blanket from a pouch and wrapped it around the android. "Now that she's modest... Where the hell did she come from, Pep? This system is uninhabited."

"I'm either thinking she came out the Volk in the same ice burst that sent me off or... no..." Pep thought back on the scenario and shook his head as he walked his suit over to a safe space. "Actually, she looked like she was in a standard orbit. She zipped my way when I tried pulling myself to you guys."

"That's because it's a failure and I was really, really angry." Elliot waved as he greeted his new refugees. "You can get a bit worked up when you're surrounded by inorganics for a whole week. I suspect that one was... Oh, yes. It was from the last batch."

"So you jettison your trash?" Pepper opened the rear of his exosuit and stepped out, leaving the cockpit exposed for quick access. "You don't recycle the materials? With matter printer tech these days--"

"I was angry. There was an iceberg in our way. Seemed like a better use for a Construct with spark-dead wetware. Bonus burial at sea." Ellie sighed as he checked the shell of the Construct. "Looks like it took the impact quite well though. Making this frame out of carbon nanotube weaves might have worked out better than I assumed. Coco, make a note of that please."

"You've got it, Elliot." An Astral Core with only a few rings surrounding her 'nodded' from the forward doorway. "Shall I have quarters prepared for our guests as well?"

"If we're waiting for the Volk it'll be morning until they've caught up to us. Yeah, have Trish set up a few beds."

"Thanks, Uncle Elliot. I could use some rest after that ordeal." Pep moved to the Construct and waved a paw over her. "What about her? Tell me you're not junking her again."

"Well it has a flaw that's been bugging me for years. In this case my attempted fix only ended up keeping it from coming online. Spark-dead through and through." Ellie sighed as he considered the shell's fate. "I'll record some of the damage resistance and then... recycle it properly, I guess. Not much use otherwise."

"Do you mind if I take a look? Dissembling junk is good practice for an engineer."

Rhyme slapped her son on his shoulder. "I'd like to see you try, actually. She weighs a ton and she looks to be mostly wetware modules."

"That's why I'm curious. I've never seen wetware this dense before." Pepper used his natural control over gravity to create a well above the Construct that negated the ship's artificial gravity on her. "I'm guessing that's part of your efforts for Aunt Ashe? How's that coming?"

"I've been trying to make this state-phasing wetware actually work. My kids inspired me to make it and... it actually has enough capacity to store the minimum of a living person inside it." Ellie took out his Slate and snapped a few holograms of the damage for his own use. "Simulations say it should work, but the state changes aren't triggering when we spark the AI's kernel. Sadly that means the donated AI is lost, but such is progress I suppose. I'll send a few tools to your quarters, if you agree to record the breakdown for me. Deal?"

"Deal, Uncle. Gives me something to do in the morning, plus I'm always up for bringing back Aunt Ashe." Pepper corrected the blanket draped over the Construct and tugged her through the main hall of the Daedalus by her tail. "Hey, Trish. This room mine?"

A Construct looking like a mouse nodded her head as she held some sheets. "I haven't made it up yet, but yeah. Just give me a few--"

"You don't need to do that, hon. I've got it." Pep grabbed the sheets in passing and rested his new project over his bunk's fold-down desk. "Is my uncle eating right? Sleeping enough?"

"Neither. You know how he gets when he has a breakthrough." Trish emulated a sigh of frustration. "Doesn't stop me from trying. He hired me because he likes my cooking, then he doesn't have time to eat it. Maybe you'll make up for that, eh?"

"I look forward to it. I think I'll get some rest for a while though, if that's fine."

"By all means, Pep. Always nice to have you aboard. Sleep well and I'll cook up some salmon in the morning."

"You have real salmon still? Count me in, heeee. Nice seeing ya' again, Trish." Pepper slid his door shut and turned to make up his bed. "Never a dull day working for this family. Still..." Pep threw his sheets over his bed haphazardly and sat on the edge, staring at the draped Construct on his desk. "Only a few breaks in the skin after being shot at an ice block? What are you made of and can I get it put on my suit?"

Intrigued, the putter hybrid stood and lifted the foil blanket from the body. He curiously ran a finger over the wolfess' bald skin, leading to a flick of a breast and eventually a testing prod of her nethers. "A bit accurate for a prototype." That finger slithered inside the Construct's folds, now intent on seeing just how accurate the shell needed to be for Ellie's standards. "Even after being out in space, you're warm in here? You've got body heat emulation? Damn, that's attention to detail."

"Nm..."

The body began to stir, Pepper immediately drawing back his paw in surprise. "You're alive? How the hell...?"

"Why would I not be alive?" The girl slowly pulled herself upright, feeling herself all over before her eyes settled on her paw pads. "What is this? Why... can't I remember...?"

Though the wolf didn't seem to feel anything, Pep pulled up the blanket to cover the girl and stem his own embarrassment. "I'm sorry, but I can't really answer much of what's bothering you. What I meant was you were... Er, I should say that your new body is tough as nails. It might be an upgrade over your last one."

"New... body?" The girl peeked beneath her blanket and noticed one of the breaks in her skin. "I should be bleeding... Gods, how is this happening?"

"It's okay. Try to calm down." Pepper clasped the wolf's paws between his own, absolutely amazed at the realistic feeling of fine bones and muscles beneath her warm skin. "We didn't think you'd come online. Something might be wrong with your integration with the new wetware modules, so take it easy in case you trigger another fault."

"Wetware? But I'm alive." The girl spotted a break in her wrist and moved her head in for a closer look, then shoved her paws away with robotic strength when she saw what rested beneath the skin. "What did you do to my paw!? Oh gods, I was in an accident wasn't I!?"

"No, no. I mean... maybe that's how you became a test subject, but there isn't any accident I'm aware of having happened." Unable to safely stay close to the wolfess, Pep checked a closet and found various sizes of lab suits and white coats. "Let's get you dressed. Then we can talk to Elliot and figure everything out."

"But I'm... j-just a g-g-g-g--"

The shell seized in place a moment, then the AI inhabiting it shut itself down. "Crap. She's still hitting hard faults." Pep took one of the coats and dressed it over the girl's shoulders. "Let's both get some rest. We'll figure you out in the morning."

Several Days Later

05:44, 23/1/1, 15 XP

MetaReal Research Labs, Vapor Furnace Prime

System AL-733, Open Space

---

"Isn't this place great? It's always nice to be home."

"You realize the last time I was here I could barely see over the counters, right?" Pepper took a deep breath as a door to a large lab opened, noticing then how Elliot fawned over the wolfess he was carrying. "You're never this happy. This girl bringing you hope?"

"As sharp as your mother's arrows. Yes, I'm thrilled. The density of wetware is pretty much all that's keeping Ashe from having a body. If this unit finally managed to wake from a spark... Ouh, I'm in shivers!" Ellie skipped over to a specimen table and cleared it of clutter. "Place it here and I'll see if I can't give it another spark."

"On one condition." Pepper set the girl down gently on the padded part of the table. "She's a person. Stop treating her like a thing."

"Sorry... bad habit. You can't keep experimenting with sleeping consciousnesses like I have if you see them as people. I've lost so many to this one goal alone..."

"Doc, you need to lay off the coffee." Paprika strolled into the room clad in a lightweight, mostly clear exosuit and hopped out the back. "You're never up this early. Fourth--no, fifth cup?"

"Fourth. Don't judge me, Miss Drinks Before Noon... even if you do have nanites to help you cope." Ellie moved a sensor into place, then attached several nodes to the Construct's newly-repaired shell. "Why not make yourself useful, please? Could you calibrate this emitter for us? It'll take closer to an hour otherwise."

"Sure thing, boss. Oh, hey bro." Paprika jumped back into her suit, powered it up, and started creating hardlight measurement surfaces around the misaligned sensor. "What brings you here, Pep? It's been a while, huh?"

"This girl does. I promised her things would be alright and I can't leave her until they are." Pepper figured out what Elliot was doing and helped attach nodes on the wolf's other side. "They treating you well here, Rika? Please don't tell me you work as hard as Uncle Elliot."

"Yeah, I get to do interesting work. It helps I know I'm making things easier for Constructs out there too." The hardlight tools moved inward upon themselves until the sensor slid into proper alignment, then the light scattered. "All done here, doc. I went to the nearest micron, if that's accurate enough."

Ellie tapped a few buttons on a console and the sensor lit up. "We're not doing surgery, just a spark. It should be fine. Thank you, Doctor Rihzyet."

"Doctor? I thought you still needed to get your thesis done, Rika. It was accepted?"

"No, but Doctor Rustfelt here peer reviewed it along with a few others in the labs. As far as anyone is concerned, I've earned my doctorate in all but the certificate." Paprika once again exited her exosuit and stretched against it. "It helps to have the approval of your peers when you're working next to them in a crystal suit that could punch holes in the station."

Pep gave his sister a quick hug. "Maybe mine could, and definitely Salt's could, but yours is designed for finer work. I'm pretty sure they see it as a microscope only you have to wear it."

"I'm glad we have her though. That suit lets us do a few things without tons of hassle. It's a shame only you guys have the ability to power them with your nanites. Maybe that should be our next problem to solve once we're done with the dynamic wetware modules."

"Oh, this is related to dynamic wetware?" Rika quirked her head as she checked over the odd repairs to the wolfess' skin. "This girl actually woke up? Then what? She looks like she jumped through an engine."

"He shot her into oncoming traffic. We patched her up, but I think we might want to reskin her shell--with fur this time." Pep gave the odd Construct's supple skin one last glide of a finger before the procedure. "She deserves a normal body and a chance to blend in like any other Construct. Hell, you did such a good job with this shell I'd bet we could pass her off as Terran."

"That was the goal. I'm trying to make a body for my wife, remember? If I'm designing new wetware I'm damn well making sure it fits in the final body design." Ellie tapped a few more button holograms and the sensor started moving around the wolfess' body to specific points. "Okay, after a subsurface scan I'll give her a spark. Keep clear."

"You got it, Uncle E."

Running on an automatic cycle, the scanner retracted and triggered an immediate current to the wolf's shell. Pulses of power ran through the girl and caused her artificial muscles to contract erratically, but after a few seconds the reaction ended. Once the current was sufficiently high and the body had accepted the conditions, the electric pulses sent an awakening signal to the wetware beneath the surface. Soon a status message of 'Complete' flickered over Elliot's screen, yet the body did not move.

Paprika eased closer cautiously. "Did it not work? Most Constructs are instantly awake after that."

"Let's try another scan and see if we broke anything."

"No, I have... a better idea..." Pepper moved up to the nude girl and hovered a paw over her nethers, considering if perhaps he hadn't come across a coincidence by mistake. After a huff of air he pressed two fingers into her sex as far as he could manage. "Come on... Don't you dare make me look like a pervert now, hon."

A heavy, mechanically efficient slap sent Pep sliding across the floor. "You are a pervert!"

"What the fuck was that?" Rika ran her gaze from her brother, to the Construct's snatch, then her flushing face, and finally to Elliot. "Doc, please tell me you can explain that."

"Maybe... she needed a shock to her nervous system? Yes yes, perhaps..."

"Where am I? And who the hell is this perv that keeps waking me?"

Pep grabbed his jaw and clicked it back and forth. "I'm not a perv."

"I grew up with you and those magazines Uncle Yoyo snuck you. You're definitely a perv." Rika chortled as she took off her lab coat and shielded the girl with it. "Take this. These boys seem to like you in the buff."

"Huh? Oh, not at all. I'm married." Ellie checked his readings from the nodes across the girl's body and nodded at a preliminary conclusion. "Since the dynamic wetware ties to the rest of the sensors and motors directly like out brains do to ours, perhaps that's what was failing before in the previous testing. We needed to stimulate the nervous system for the spark to take hold and cause the Construct to grow into the wetware structures. A tight bundle like those in sex organs is a good choice, actually."

"Well being jettisoned into a space glacier would probably stimulate things, huh?" Pep rubbed his cheek as it began swelling. "I'm not proud of it, but touching her there is what woke her the last time as well. I'm just glad it worked again."

"I don't know what needed to work or not. I just want to know what's going on." The wolfess uncovered her chest to inspect it, then covered herself helplessly. "What happened? I'm bald and... I have tits..."

"You had a male shell before this, didn't you? Hell, Uncle Elliot..."

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm designing a new body for my wife." Elliot shut down his console and began removing nodes from the wolf's body. "Constructs adapt to their environment with programming. She'll be fine soon enough."

"I have a name, thank you." The girl ducked her head between her shoulders. "I'm not sure what it is, but I have one and I'd rather you use it."

"Names are innate. If you can't remember that, your firmware degraded or was damaged between shells. The reason you lost your old shell must have been pretty damn interesting." Pepper took the last node at Ellie removed it and placed it on the girl's temple. "We should be able to get her name from her encoding key. Uncle?"

"Yeah, one second." Ellie powered up the hologram emitter again and swiped through information stored in the girl's firmware. "It says her name is... 'Index'. Wait, I knew an Index. Where...?"

"Index, eh? That's a fun name." Pep removed the node and backed away to give the Construct some space. "Nice to meet you. I'm Pepper."

"H-Hi..."

"Well I'm Paprika. And before you ask, yes we're related--part of triplets, actually." Rika offered a paw, but took a hug when Index leaned against her. "I can see we'll be good labmates already."

"No, I can't... My back hurts..."

"Jitters from the spark. It'll pass, though pain's a new one." Elliot placed a paw on Index's spine and pressed to feel for spasms. "Her more complex nerve network is adapting poorly. I wonder if my restricted drug license is still active...?"

Rika sighed as she thought that rule of logic out. "What, you're going to give her pain pills? You realize she's a Construct, right?"

"She is, but her systems are more like Robyn's cybernetic ones. She should react to ingested drugs similarly, as she metabolizes food and even breathes for part of her power. I told you I wanted to bring Ashe back in full. No expenses were spared." Elliot squinted as he noticed the source of Index's spasming was actually in her diaphragm. "Of course. Now I remember you. Index..."

"You know who I am? Please, tell me!"

"The pace of your breathing gives you away. It's a lot like a canine's breathing, and it's straining your lungs a bit."

Pep shook his head slowly in disbelief. "She's some kind of wolf, Uncle E. That's canine last I knew."

"No, I mean feral canines. Ashe had a dog, a puli, that helped her move about. Considering the mental transfer into a Construct form consumes the host's consciousness, I needed to be sure we could transfer Ashe properly and safely the first and only attempt..." Ellie sat in the seat near the console and slumped in ponderous thought. "We moved India into a basic wetware core and fit it into a feral canine shell when her real body was failing. She installed more systems than she could afford and needed a larger wetware stack, so we got the idea to Link her to a stationary unit in the Archives. That's when Indy... became the Index for the library system."

"So you weren't a guy... you were a feral dog. I can't even..." Pepper found a seat and sat down as well so he could focus on the larger picture. "So Index laid out the plan for transferring Ashe into the rebuilt Archives because shell-sized wetware stacks weren't adequate... and now you're trying to shrink it all back. Interesting."

"Yeah. We've been doing a lot of work in compression and density improvements." Rika rubbed one of Indy's shoulders with a contemplative sigh. "I had no clue we had a project combining that with artificial biologic systems though. You need to inform us of this stuff, doc."

"Well consider yourself informed." Ellie stood and looked around the labs through their protective glass cases. "We should find Index a place to stay for testing. We need to keep a close eye on her breakthroughs."

"You're going to make me a lab rat?" Indy whined at the thought, hiding beneath her minimal cover. "Please, anything but that. I really don't like the thought of... needles, and... probes..."

Pepper saw the girl's strong will to resist breaking and hopped over to hug her into calmness. "You've been through far too much testing in your past life, huh? Don't worry, Index. I... I'll let you stay with me for now."

Elliot groaned as he pressed his point. "Pepper, she needs to be observed--"

"She needs to grow into her new body naturally. Right?" Pep helped Indy to her hindpaws and held her upright. "Let her get used to things in a more natural environment. If we run into issues we'll rush right back. I'll even run diagnostics with my workbench every few days so you can keep tabs. Just let her live a little, Uncle Elliot."

"Stress to her systems did prove detrimental to the point of system arrest..." Elliot huffed out a slow breath as he nodded to the proposal. "Fine. I'll forward the pips for her expenses. Or do you prefer coin?"

"Pips are fine. Easier to handle cash for me if it's digital." Pepper extended a paw and gave a firm shake on the deal. "Add my biometrics to this place in case we have an emergency and I think we'll be fine."

"No can do, but I do have Index's encoding profile now so I'll use that. If she has an issue she'll be her own key, supposing Doctor Rihzyet or myself aren't present." Ellie sat in his chair and sighed in relief. "Send me regular reports. Aside from that... enjoy your new life, Indy."

Index fought to stand up straight let alone face Elliot for parting words. "I will. Thank you, Elliot."

That Evening

14:01, 23/1/1, 15 XP

Residential Ward 041, Vapor Furnace Prime

System AL-733, Open Space

---

"Why is this place so... dirty?"

"It's not exactly the most expensive place to live, I'll give you that." Pepper kept close to Index in case she stumbled or one of the many citizens bustling through the crowded alleys crashed into her. "A good rule of thumb? The higher the number on a station ward, the lower the standards. This place in particular always needs repairs so... as Chief Engineer I rented a place here."

"Then we have to live here?" Indy whimpered at the grimey buildings and forced herself to focus on something more palatable. "I smell something good..."

"Street food carts, yeah. Not exactly high on nutrition, but some of it's tasty enough." Pep grinned at his new roommate's lolling tongue. "Want something? My uncle said you need to eat for energy."

"Meat. I'm smelling some and it's driving me crazy." Indy sniffed the air a moment, then instinctively grabbed Pepper by the wrist and guided him to a certain stall like the seeing eye dog she was. "This one. It smells perfect."

"Good nose." Pep held up four fingers to the Yangurra running the stall and then pointed to some meat kebabs. "Four to go, Boshy. Oh, still got that special sauce?"

"Yes, otter. I have. I have much." Boshy pulled four juicy kebabs from his grill and clamped the sticks in wads of paper towels. "This Construct, yes? Not furless friend?"

"Yeah, this is Index. She's living with me now, so don't be shy." Pep took a bundle of tin foil hiding something inside and swiped his Slate over a payment kiosk. "Good stuff, Boshy. You're the man."

"You want to be the Boshy, yes?" The Yangurra smiled as he put some more food on his grill. "Thank you for sale. Come again, otter."

"Well that went better than I thought." Index talked through a mouthful of meat as she gnawed on a third of her first kebab at once. "Everyone looks dangerous around here."

"Looks can be deceiving. This place treats its own well, plus Boshy just happens to be a fun guy." Pepper took his two sticks and started eating, nudging his snout up a certain alley while he pulled off a piece of meat. "Mnm... That way to my place."

"Oh, okay." Practically before leaving the vicinity of the stall Indy had already devoured her first kebab and started the next. "How much room do you have?"

"My flat was made for two, but I needed a second room for my work. Only the one bed for now." Pep walked up to a door and swiped his Slate over a panel, the door sliding open a moment later. "Top floor. Lift's on the right."

"Ouh, nice." Indy chomped at the last of her food as she pranced about the small lobby of the apartment building to appreciate its antique styling. "This place looks pretty fancy. Dirty still, but fancy."

"It's all faux Victorian design. I like the mechanical look of all the brass fixtures myself." Pep tapped a rare physical depressor button to call the elevator, then stepped inside while Indy explored. "I think we'll get along famously. You're the only other person I know that actually likes this stuff."

"Nothing wrong with a little art in your life, right?" Index scurried into the lift and played with the brass accordion gate that secured it. "For some reason I like this stuff because... you don't just look at it, but have to feel it to appreciate the aesthetics. You know?"

"Exactly. Good machines make you want to understand them physically. Part of that's materials, part of it's showing motion..." Pepper noticed Indy practically drooling at the sight of his spare kebab and he offered it with a smile. "I was just holding it for you. Here."

"Really? Thanks!" Indy tore a chunk out of the treat, practically purring in delight. "This is so much better than that lab."

"If this kind of stuff is good enough for you, you'll like the rest of the Furnace even more." Pep pressed the button to his floor and the elevator carriage started moving, though unlike its aged appearance the mechanic components moved quickly and efficiently. "Home, sweet home. The one on the corner is ours." He walked over and touched two fingers to the security panel by the door, the heavy wood panel sliding out of the way with the proper credentials. "Feel free to make yourself at home. I mean, it actually is your home now after all."

"Do you have some water or--?"

Pep beat the pup to the punch. He grabbed a pair of sodas from his fridge and tossed one to Index. "Try one of these. Plenty of water, but you've got me curious about your tastes after scarfing down that food."

"Oh..." Indy took a moment to figure out the punch-top, having to watch Pepper for a hint, and grinned as she took a taste of the sweet, bubbly substance within. "Amazing! What is this?"

"It's a drink called Diet Cuke. I've got plenty, so help yourself." Pepper took out his special package and drew out a glass stick. He snapped it near his nose, waited a second, then inhaled some sort of gas as it became visible through an oxygen reaction. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm beat." He fell onto the longer of two sofas and rolled to face the cushions, his thick tail poking up to give directions. "Bathroom's opposite the kitchen. Don't touch the workshop. The bed's all yours for now."

"Oh... What about clothes?"

"I've got a bunch of stuff in the closet, so pick anything that might fit. We'll go shopping for your own stuff along with another bed tomorrow." Pepper took another swig of his Cuke and rolled back over, the drugs starting to kick in proper. "Night, Index."

"Sure... Yeah."

Pepper zoned out, crossing in and out of consciousness several times through the night. The puff he took had a side effect of distorting his sense of time, but on the positive side he could easily relax like this even if his sleep cycle didn't agree. It was a bad habit, but being on his own and working odd hours also seemed equally unhealthy. Loneliness consumed the putter more nights than he could count. A light drug habit worked and that's all he needed to know.

"Nn..." Sometime in the middle of the night a warm body snuggled behind Pepper, draping the apartment's sole blanket over the pair. Index slung an arm over Pepper's waist and nudged her snout into the small of his neck. "Sorry... Too cold..."

Pep sighed and pulled that arm away. "It's plenty warm in bed. You don't need to feel sorry for me or anything. It's all yours tonight."

"No. It's cold." Indy replaced her arm and dug the other beneath Pep's shoulder. "You're so fluffy and warm..."

Pepper flipped onto his back and got a better look at the pup, finding her in one of his button-up shirts and a fresh pair of his boyshort panties. Without fur of her own though, she still managed to shiver in place. "I guess I forgot the temperature is for furs. Sorry." He laid back, tapped a control on his Slate, and closed his eyes. "There. The thermostat is set warmer now. Go back to bed, Index."

"I told you... No." Indy tossed her arm over Pepper's chest and cozied into his fur. "I like it right here."

"Index, come on. One of us can barely fit on this thing."

"Don't care."

"Really?" Pep took a deep breath and tried to sit up, but the much stronger Construct pinned him down with ease. "Index, don't play around. If you're not taking the bed I will."

"You're not going anywhere, fuzzy. We aren't even." Indy slid her paw down and slipped it under the lip of Pepper's pants. She expected to find something interesting awaiting her, but she was surprised with the manner of interest when she felt less than expected. "Hm? What's going on...?"

"Where do you think those panties came from?" It might have been the drugs or maybe even a void needing to filled in his life, but Pepper popped open the top of his pants and let the dog explore. "I'm not really a guy or a girl. Pretty fucked up, isn't it?"

"What does that mean?" Indy rubbed a puffy mound and immediately understood, her fingers hooking beneath the putter's panties and pressing curiously into his wet pussy. "W-Wow..."

"You probably want to find another place to live now, huh? It's fine by me--"

"Shush. Don't say stuff you'll regret." Index retracted her paw and slid it beneath Pepper's shirt, lifting the cloth out of the way for more direct warmth. "There, we're even. Now shut up and go to sleep, Pepper."

"You don't... care about that?" The dog's renewed cuddling instantly sobered Pepper, sending his heart racing. "You're an interesting girl."

"Right back at you. Like you said, we'll get along famously. Now shut up and sleep, silly." Index shut her eyes, rested her head on Pepper's chest, and lightly tapped his large nose. "Boop."